Toucan Dark Ale + Lager + BE3

[Malter White]

3 hours ago, Boot Straps said:

@MUZZY SMOTY being???

Yes, as @jamiek86 pointed out - Shortest Month Of The Year
It tastes just as good in other months too.  

https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/smoty-ale.html

Edited April 30, 2021 by MUZZY

[Malter White]

4 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Hi Muzz, I get 4.5% before bottle priming (4.9% after).  This sounds like a really nice beer.  Dark Lager, yum.  Cluster hops are a good choice.  They are in a lager recipe I am doing soon. 

Thanks Shamus. That's the ABV range I was hoping without really knowing it.
I guess time will tell how good or bad it will be. Really all I'm doing is using up what ingredients I have at home before I order some more.
Cluster were what I used in my first dry hopped brew - English Bitter. Tried one the other night. Really good. I can't believe I waited over 3 years to start dry hopping. I'm such a fool.

[Malter White]

Progress report on my Toucan Dark Lager: OG 1.038 (This is not 100% accurate. My new hydrometer reads a few points lower than it should. Probably more like 1.040/41/42
Tasted a sample on day 4. Nice and sweet but understandably because not all sugars were fermented. SG was approx 1.020 - too much foam to get an accurate read.
Day 6 the massive krausen had subsided mostly so I took the collar out and dropped in 20g Liberty hops (dry). SG 1.010. Tasted again and sweetness has subsided also. Quite bitter now. I'm hoping that will mellow over time because I was liking the earlier sweeter sample.
I dropped in the Liberty because I've got 4 varieties of hops here and Liberty was the most suited for lagers according to one website I referenced.
Looking forward to this beer being ready because it's my most experimental beer to date. It might not sound too exotic to some of you more experienced brewers but I'm a bit of a missionary position-type brewer, less adventurous than others.  

[Malter White]

On 5/7/2021 at 9:58 AM, MUZZY said:

Progress report on my Toucan Dark Lager: OG 1.038 (This is not 100% accurate. My new hydrometer reads a few points lower than it should. Probably more like 1.040/41/42
Tasted a sample on day 4. Nice and sweet but understandably because not all sugars were fermented. SG was approx 1.020 - too much foam to get an accurate read.
Day 6 the massive krausen had subsided mostly so I took the collar out and dropped in 20g Liberty hops (dry). SG 1.010. Tasted again and sweetness has subsided also. Quite bitter now. I'm hoping that will mellow over time because I was liking the earlier sweeter sample.
I dropped in the Liberty because I've got 4 varieties of hops here and Liberty was the most suited for lagers according to one website I referenced.
Looking forward to this beer being ready because it's my most experimental beer to date. It might not sound too exotic to some of you more experienced brewers but I'm a bit of a missionary position-type brewer, less adventurous than others.  

After 11 days of fermentation I bottled this beer, which I'm calling Yannick Lager. Named for French tennis player Yannick Noah who is a pretty cool, DARK EUROPEAN. Dark Ale + European Lager, get it?  
Without having the descriptive words of our comrade, Shamus, I have to say the tasted sample on bottling day is probably the best one I've ever done. The bitterness from a few days back has mellowed. I now pray to the beer gods that bottle conditioning will only improve it or at the very least maintain the level it's at now.
Looking forward to a couple of weeks from now to try it in it's finished state. The dilemma I now face is: if it is a great beer I'd like to share it with mates to gloat about my brewing skills to them but if I share there's less for me.  

[Malter White]

On 5/12/2021 at 12:12 PM, MUZZY said:

After 11 days of fermentation I bottled this beer, which I'm calling Yannick Lager. Named for French tennis player Yannick Noah who is a pretty cool, DARK EUROPEAN. Dark Ale + European Lager, get it?  
Without having the descriptive words of our comrade, Shamus, I have to say the tasted sample on bottling day is probably the best one I've ever done. The bitterness from a few days back has mellowed. I now pray to the beer gods that bottle conditioning will only improve it or at the very least maintain the level it's at now.
Looking forward to a couple of weeks from now to try it in it's finished state. The dilemma I now face is: if it is a great beer I'd like to share it with mates to gloat about my brewing skills to them but if I share there's less for me.  

After 13 days in the bottle I decided to try one tonight. Maybe my taste buds had an off day last time I sampled this beer because the bitterness is back again. It's not a bad thing, it's just I wasn't expecting it to be bitter. Even though I used lager yeast this beer tastes very much like SMOTY Ale. I'm not enamored with it but it's not a bad drop. It'll be a good beer to have on hand over the cold months.